The Mekelle Russian Bar act from Ethiopia, was the first Russian Bar act ever to be created and performed by an African performer. It gained international acclaim when it was viewed for the first time in the International Circus Festival of Albecete Spain, where it was rumoured to end up being a prize winner due to it's innovation and beautiful presentation. The act is still spoken about today, years later. Sadly the flyer was injured during the second day, when he broke his shoulder whilst performing the famous triple somersault and they were unable to compete with their act.

﻿They were trained in Australia and Ethiopia by Jasmine Straga and Marco Moreno on an intensive 6 month training schedule which put them through intense ballet, trampolining, movement and russian bar training. The flyer Emmanuel who broke his shoulder has since been replaced by flyer Angesom, who sadly does not do the triple somersault like Emmanuel did, but instead performs a double, double for finale and is still working alongside the original team of Bob, Tsaedu and the beatuiful Firtuna. They are currently working for MSC Cruises!

The Troupe competed in the 3rd International Circus Festival of Albacete, directed by Genis Matabosch.﻿ The video is available to view here